Innocent Sin: Actress Again

III: After Class

Aisha

The hallway was mercifully clear, save for a few skippers as I leaned against the wall, my eyes feeling red and swollen. Sniffling, I rubbed them, my cheeks prickling with a flushed heat as some random straggler sneered at me, pointing me out to her posse of makeup-caked friends. I glared at her clown-like face with all the ferocity I had, Oh look it! It's another whore skipping out on class! I wanted to say, but I could not find my voice. I mean, technically I was skipping too, but I had attended class for all but the last fifteen or so minutes, so it still counted, right?

"Hey, are you ok?"

I cringed as I identified the voice, a displeased shiver running up my spine. Oh El, is it really that loser? I narrowed my eyes, directing my gaze to the right. Sure enough, Els Hwajae was standing right beside me, his crimson eyes wide with concern. "Urk, you…" I grumbled, folding my arms as I shot daggers at him. He smiled abashedly at me and flexed his shoulders with a nonchalant air. "Yup, me," he chuckled, leaning his lithe frame against the wall, the sunlight streaming in through the windows setting his hair ablaze.

"What do you want?" I snapped with all the scorn I could muster. Elsword's eyes went wide and he tilted his head to the side, assuming an expression of innocence. "Oh my El, from your tone you make it seem like I have some sinister ulterior motive," he laughed airily, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. My blood boiled and my hand twitched as every nerve in my body called out for me to grab his hand and break it. "Do you?" I growled, taking a step backwards. Oh why do I have to breathe the same air as him?

He smirked, shaking his head. "Do you think that poorly of me? No, I just couldn't stand to see a girl cry," he replied sincerely. I snorted, flipping my hair. "You'll be the one crying if you don't leave me alone," I growled menacingly.

"Ah! What are you two doing out of class? You only have another five minutes," a well-known voice throughout the school addressed us. Elsword and I turned our heads to the source of the voice to find School President (Basically the person who runs the school right underneath the Director's Board) Aren Haan looking at us, his left eyebrow raised in a quizzical expression.

Aren Haan- he was the older brother of Ara with the distinctive ebon hair and orange-gold eyes of the Haan family, but nowhere near as well-liked as his younger sister. Quiet, calm, and mature, he was no fun. At all. He ran the school well, but he tended to be the biggest killjoy ever. I still remember the beginning of my first year here, when the first years had a huge party to celebrate the start of the school year at the end of the day, Aren went in and had it shut down, complaining that it was disturbing the people who were trying to study. Like really? It was the first day of school! What could there possibly be to study?

"Oh, I was heading over to the infirmary to get the nurse for Raven, you see, he accidentally sliced his non-Nasod hand wide open while enhancing the blade in Metal Working class. He's currently swearing at everything and bleeding a ridiculous amount. The teacher refuses to let him go because he's afraid that Raven's going to make a mess with his bloody hand. He'd have to wait until the end of class, after the teacher's lunch break to be personally escorted otherwise." Elsword explained, looking mildly annoyed.

Aren pursed his lips into a thin line, shifting the books he held in his arms, but otherwise he remained silent. "It's really stupid if you ask me, I bet you if it was some Asgard-borne student who was bleeding all over, they would be rushed to the ER with a dozen of their closest followers behind them, wailing at obnoxiously high volumes while praying that their friend will survive their 'mortal wound'." Elsword grumbled, shaking his head. Aren continued to be silent, staring intently at Elsword, his facial expression unusually hard to read.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Elsword furrowed his brow, walking over to the window and checking his reflection in it. Aren's eyes snapped open, as if awakening from a trance and he shook his head. "Ah, no, it's nothing really… It's just that the shade of your red hair and red eyes reminded me of a friend I had…" he sighed, laughing humorlessly at himself. "Oh El, I'm a mess… I'm still moping over her even though she's been gone and dead for a long time now."

Elsword stiffened, slowly craning his neck to stare at Aren with an interested expression. "What happened to her?" he queried softly, his facial expression subtly shifting and turning… darker… for lack of a better word. Aren frowned, rubbing his forehead. "She was killed during the Riot of Niffleheim seven years ago… I still remember her death like yesterday."

Now it was my turn to look surprised, "Wait? You were there?!" I yelped. Aren bowed his head, his eyes hidden behind his long black bangs. "Yes, the Haans were one of the families involved. We were visiting the mines to oversee the workers there when it happened."

I shuddered, How horrible… The Riot of Niffleheim was the most calamitous event to have occurred in the last fifty years. Over ten thousand killed, three old and important families from Asgard completely eliminated, a section of Midgard, utterly trashed when the rabble broke through the gates and stormed the middle level of Yggdrasil. They would've broken down the gates to Asgard if the Praetorian Guard hadn't intervened and subdued them.

The sole punishment delivered to every participator in the Riot from Niffleheim was death.

No exceptions.

"What was her name?" Elsword probed, biting his bottom lip. For a moment, I swore Aren shot him a look of pure venomous hate, completely undiluted, but it was gone so quickly it could've only been my imagination.

"Elsa… Elsa Pendragon… She was a member of one of the families that were wiped out."

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

The solemn bells rang, signaling the end of the period. "Oh shit, I better go to the infirmary before Raven bleeds to death thanks to our dick of a Weapon Making teacher." Elsword muttered distractedly, tugging at his bangs. Aren nodded curtly, pushing his steel-rimmed reading glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I suggest you hurry to class to Miss Kaname, if your latest test scores were any indication, I don't think you can afford to be missing any class time." He addressed it towards me, making me hang my head as my cheeks burned with shame. Sure, I didn't like him, but he was the School President and the current head of the Haan family.

"Ok…" I mumbled, turning my sights to Elsword. He winked at me in a borderline-flirtatious way, waving his hand in a cheery "goodbye". With a bright smile, he said to me: "I hope to see you again!" before departing. I seethed, miming stabbing him in his head as I watched his retreating figure ("Miss Kaname!" Aren gasped). I flipped my hair and stalked away to Numerica and Grammatica, sticking my nose in the air with a mien of affronted dignity.

III.V Elsword- The Plight of All Those Who Aren't Assholes

The air was pleasantly crisp and the sky a clear eggshell blue as I stood outside on the sparring grounds while Denka cheerfully lectured us about basic training techniques. The verdant landscape was dotted with flower bushes and my classmates were chattering to each other, paying little attention to the teacher except for a studious few. I was mainly ignored, save for a few dirty looks and this one weird, white-haired girl who wore round glasses with thick lenses.

"H-hi!" she stammered, blushing hard, her head bowed causing her glasses to droop down her dainty nose and revealing wide lavender eyes. Purple eyes too… what's with purple eyes here? I didn't think they were that common… Back home I never saw any purple-eyed people. Then again… My thoughts drifted to Aren. Maybe I was being crazy but I sensed some seriously hostile vibes from him. He said my red eyes and red hair was unusual but I see that all the time in Midgard.

"I-I'm… I'm Su-Subtractia Ta-Targaryen! Wh-what's your name… uh…?" She squeaked, looking small and child-like in her oversized uniforms. My eye's snapped open wide and I jerked my chin up, staring straight at the slender silverette. "Oh…uh…" I fumbled, feeling dazed. My head pounded, dull, but still mind-numbing pain crashing through my head. You there?

"…"

Silence. Of course… that prick…

"Ha! Look at those two dorks out there together!" A pale boy with messy black hair that stuck out like a bundle of chicken feathers and mauve eyes that showed a disturbing amount of white, sneered unpleasantly at Subtractia and I. The gaggle of slutty-looking girls and buff muscle men, all clad in white sniggered, pointing in our direction as they whispered (obviously) snide remarks to each other.

"Y-You leave us alone Psy!" Subtractia yelped, clenching her hands into a tight fist and biting her bottom lip. Psy smirked, making a heart shape with his hands. "You two losers make such a kyooot couple!" he drawled, making kissing noises with his mouth. Subtractia blushed, taking a nervous step backwards. "Y-you stop that!" she cried indignantly, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout. Psy cackled, walking over to Subtractia before flicking her in the forehead.

"Or what?" he taunted, his upper lip curling upwards in disgust. "You'll use your last name to get me in trouble?" he sang sardonically, roughly shoving her. "Cut it out and go back to Gangham Style," I snapped, biting the inside of my right cheek. Psy snarled, whipping himself around.

"What did you say punk?!" he bellowed, grabbing my shirt collar and lifting me off the ground. I stared at him, narrowing my eyes.

Tell him to go fuck himself… An indolent voice yawned in a bored monotone.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT YOU LITTLE BITCH?!" Psy shrieked, shaking me like a rag doll. My jaw dropped, "Wh-what?" I gaped incredulously at him. He spat on me, the spittle landing on my forehead. Gross… "Don't play dumb with me you ass!" he snarled, giving my tie a rough yank, briefly cutting off my air circulation.

"What are you two doing?" Denka snapped, her navy blue hair flying out behind her as she stormed over to us. "Back off you lowly peasant!" Psy barked, throwing me to the ground. Denka's night-sky eyes grew wide before snapping into little slits. "Excuse you Mister Lunation? I am your teacher!" she huffed indignantly, folding her arms. Psy leered maliciously at the flustered Denka, baring his teeth into a horrid smile that showed his abnormally sharp teeth.

"Ha! You just whored your way up to this job you lowly base-borne slut!"

Our teacher balked, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, clearly stung by Psy's callous remark. I seethed, steamed over this horrific abuse of people born in Midgard or anyone that tried to be friendly with them. "And you obviously had to bribe your way past Elementary School!" I retorted, my nostrils flaring as I took a deep breath.

Psy glared at me with acidic hatred before drawing his fist back and punching me hard in the face. Pain exploded throughout my head as I crashed into the ground. Stars erupting in the back of my vision. I hissed, staggering to my feet as I held my hand up in the air. Golden light enveloped my hand, forming a flickering pattern before flinging it at the bastard.

He roared as it slammed into him, saffron shards of light flying into the air as the rune split apart on impact. "Oh my!" Subtractia cried, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"What is going on over here? I see two idiots making fools out of themselves and the teacher sniveling like a two-year old who had their stuffed bunny taken from them," a silky male voice mused in a detached tone. Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the voice. Loud squealing from all the girls in the class save for Subtractia and Denka filled the air, sounding like a litter of kittens.

A handsome male with long lavender-tinged hair subdued into a casual, almost messy ponytail and mismatched violet eyes strolled towards the class. His skin was paper-white and a thin jagged fuchsia scar ran down his left eye.

"Bro-brother!" Subtractia stumbled, her awkward self-consciousness contrasting with his haughty swagger so much I wouldn't of even guessed they were siblings, despite the fact they looked similar. Denka hastily dipped into a brief bow. "Mister Targaryen, what are you doing here?" she queried. He sighed, flexing his shoulders absentmindedly.

"I came here to talk to Subtractia about her latest science project's grade-" he gave her the evil eye- "which she failed." A few chuckles rang out, only to be instantly silenced by a withering glare from Targaryen. Subtractia whimpered, lowering her head. "I-I'm… so-sorry Add… bro-brother…" she mumbled.

I raised an eyebrow at that.

Add and Subtract? Are their parents in the Tech industry? I mean, what kind of sick mind names their kids after Numerica and Grammatica terms if they're not in Tech?

"And behold, I walk in to find this class acting like a bunch of inane fools on All Hallows Eve, may I ask as to what have all you been smoking to act so asinine?" Add snorted, giving all of us contemptuous looks. Psy bristled but did not respond to Add's rebuke. Noticing his death stare, Add directed his wrath towards Psy.

"And don't think I didn't see your deplorable behavior. Yes, Denka is a base-borne slut, and yes, my sister is a dork, and yes, this filthy peasant-" he gestured at me- "needs to die for he is wasting valuable non-aether tainted oxygen, but who do you think you are? That is my sister you're insulting. Get it? MY sister, not yours," he snapped in a voice that was all brittle ice. Psy's jaw dropped, and I snickered despite myself at his facial expression. Honestly, served him right.

He growled, shooting an acidic glare at me before slashing his finger across his throat.

"Now Subtractia, if you'd be so kind as to come with me, the Shame Mobile is here for you and I expect you to ride around in it for a couple of blocks before returning," Add continued, his face pure boredom. Subtractia sniffled but reluctantly nodded her head, "K brother…"

Add nodded, grabbing Subtractia by her arm. "W-wait! Mis-" Denka began to protest, holding a hand in the air.

"Problem?" Add snipped coolly, giving the teacher a look that could make it snow on an August day. Denka's mouth opened before closing, "N-no…" she mumbled, visibly wilting. Add nodded with an air of smug satisfaction before marching away, dragging Subtractia behind him.

RC: Aaand cut! Sorry for the long wait… but hey! Here's an update and though it was low on action, we got to see some important build-up moments and meet two other characters! I also did a POV change which can be mildly annoying but I marked it well enough… Yup, we will be swapping to other people's POV when Aisha herself simply won't suffice! I mean, now that we have 10 main characters (as of now) plus several supporting and like… a jillion minor characters, Aisha can't do the job of keeping track of all of them… Be expecting some familiar faces such as Vanessa, Edan, Proto, Valak, and Speka… alongside some new ones such as Sasha, Noel, Lime, and Penensio!

Aisha: This… is quite a change…

Addition: How come my sister is a sweetie pie while I'm a major bee blob?

RC: I like your gender-bend, you need to die…

Addition: You're horrible…

Elesis: Wait… Elsa? …RC!

RC: Long, spoilerific story if I explain right now, let's just say… nevermind…

Aren: Why am I acting different in this version? I was pretty minor and harmless in the old version, and save for being killed by my own sister, I enjoyed my role…

RC: 'Cause you can?

Aren: D:

RC: But anyways, I shall be updating Gate of Sheol next simply because… I got some JUICY events coming up in the fourth chapter such as the Royal Court. Then comes the update for my Elesis x Aren two-shot.

Elsword: My POV felt a little spastic…

RC: You're generally a spacey guy, and there's something BIG that I changed about your character… though you'll have to wait until the next chapter to EVEN GUESS as to what the change is.

Elsword: Oh mai…

RC: But anyways! Remember to R&R if you love me and this story and don't want to see me ride in the Shame Car! Ja Nee! *Flies out the window*